Pitcher



Aug. i117, 1948; J. c. PROCTER PITCHER Filed Jan. 1'7, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR, JAMES C. PROCTER,

fireman.

Aug. 17, 1948.

J. C. PROCTER PITCHER Filed Jan. 17, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN To 1?, JAMES C PRoqTER,

fiTO/ENEY Aug. 17, 1948. J. c. PROCTER 2,447,429

' PITCHER Filed Jan. 17, 1947 s Sheets- Sheet s INvENToR, JAME C. PROCTER, 13, 4'

fiTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 17, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT o FicB James C. Procter, Marion County, Ind. Application January 17, 1947, Serial No. 722,596

This invention relates to what may be generally termed a pitcher and is of that type wherein a two-part housing is employed to permit opening of the housing and the reception therein of a liquid container of a more or less standardized shape such as a milk bottle.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a housing for a neat and attractive exterior appearance, and in which the container may be yieldingly received and held against accidental displacement, and so positioned that only the pouring mouth of the container is externally visible.

A further primary object of the invention is to permit the storage of liquids in the original container within a refrigerator without having to place the housing therein to the end that the container holding the refrigerated liquid may be taken out and placed within the housing for customary use, such as upon the dining room table, and thus avoid necessity of having to change the liquid from the container to some other container, and also to avoid the necessity of handling the container on the table when it becomes wet due to condensation of moisture on its outer surface.

A still further primary object of the invention is to provide a housing wherein one part, particu- Claims. (Cl. 215-12) larly the handle part will carry the removable container in order to permit the disengagement of the other part of the housing, from that "handle part. Thus it is permissible to separate one from the other of the two parts of the housing in order to permit easy cleaning of the interior of the housing.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide a positive hinge connection be tween the two housing parts and at the same time provide such a connection that may be quickly disengaged without the use of tools. These and many other objects and advantages of the invention including the novel construction and assembly of the various elements as embodied in the appended claims will become evident to those versed in the art in the following description of one particular form of invention as now best known to me, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation and partial section of a structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 2, a view in section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3, a view in section on the line 33 in Fig. 1; V

Fig. 4, a view in top plan and partial section; and

Fig. 5, a view in side elevation and partial section with the housing in open position and a bottle partially inserted.

Referring to the drawings, in which like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views, I form a rear housing portion [0. portion I0 is generally U-shape in cross section with the top and bottom ends curved around toward the plane of the open edges of that portion. Mounted on the inside of this housing I ll is a bracket generally designated by the numeral II. This bracket II has a rear, upturned leg generally triangular in shape in the present form. Theupper end of this leg l2 which would constitute the apex of the triangular shape, is perforated to receive therethrough a screw I3 which is passed through the leg I2, through the wall of the housing portion l0 and screw-threadedly engaged in a base portion of a handle M. The upper end of this handle I4 is fixed against the housing position Ill by means of a second screw l5 passed through the wall of the portion ID to screW-threadedly engage in an upper end portion of the handle. The leg I2 is not planar in shape but has the lower part It turned at right angles to a base IT. This part It continues upwardly in the right angle plane for a distance such as one inch, and then curves around rearwardly and upwardly to adiagonal part I8 to come into contact with the inside face of the housing part [0, and continues on upwardly against that face to form the top end portion [9, through which the screw I3 is carried. The central vertical portion of the leg I2 is cut through on the lines 20 and 2|, Fig. '3, from the level of the base i! to the lower end of the part IS. The portion designated by the numeral 22 between these lines 20 and 2|, is pressed rearwardly into a shape conforming to the curvature of the inside face of the housing portion In. Therefore this portion 22 is in intimate contact with that face. In order to prevent rotation of the leg l2 about the screw [3 some means is provided. In the present form, such means consists of a tongue 23 struck rearwardly from the portion 22 to enterinto a hole provided through the wall of the housing portion Hi, this hole being carried into the handle I4, Fig. 1. The screw I3 serves to hold the tongue l2 and the portion 22 firmly against the housing wall. I

The base I! is continued from the lower end of the part IS a distance equal approximately to the distance across the base of the container or bottle 24, which is to be. carriedwithin the housing.

This

From the outer end of the base l!, a spring tongue 25 is carried around upwardly and turned outwardly by its upper end. The normal position of the tongue 25 is made to be such that when the bottle 24 is to be seated on the base H, a rear portion of the bottle will bear against the part l6 and the tongue 25 will be sprung outwardly from its normal position as indicated by the dash lines, Fig. 1, to the solid line position, whereby the bottle 24 is yieldingly urged by the tongue 25 back against the part "5.

The upper end of the housing part in, desig:

nated by the numeral 25, is curved to fit around substantially half of the circumference of the neck.

21. In order to reinforce this housingencl, the

edge of the part it is folded; or rolledbacls as indicated in the drawings. Thus, when the bottle 24 is pushed down between the tongue 25 and the part 16, the upper neck portion of the bottle 24 is urged rearwardly into contact with thecurved end 26. The bottle 24 may therefore be pickedup and carried about when so mounted in thehousing H], by grasping the-handle M. The forward housing section 28 is formed tohave any suitable shape which will enclose the forward side of the bottle ZLand engage withthe forward edges ofthe rear housing part I0 A desirable shape of the forward section 28 is indicated in" the drawings wherein the section has a general U-shape in cross section. The-upper end of the Section it is brought in to fit snugly around the forward side of the neck of the bottle fl'to have the end 25 completing the enclosure fromthe end. 26 of the rear part Hi. The lower part of section 28 is provided with a base Bil-which carries well back under the bottle 24 on the section 28 and part it when the two parts are interengaged. Thus, when the section .2 8' is resting upon its base 38, the section 28 presents a forwardly and upwardly inclining edge 3'! on the one side and32 on the other side to come into contact with the corresponding edges. of the rear housing part 18. Preferably a flange 33 extends from each edge 3! and 32 under the edges of the housing part Ill in order to afford better connection there with- 7 Now in order to provide notonly a positive connection between the housing part [0 and section. 28, but to provide for disconnection, a simple structure is embodied operating in the nature of al hingep v Toprovide this connecting means, a pin 34 is carriedtransversely through the section 28 and anchored by its ends to the side walls. Then the upturned legs 35 and 35 of a generally U-shape bracket 3'! is positioned to have the web 38 rest against the rear upturned portion 39 of the section 28 whichextends upwardly and rearwardly from the base 39, to have ends of the pin 34 pass through those legs to fix them in position. In order to prevent rocking of the bracket 31 in respect to the pin 3%, any suitable means may be employed such as is herein shown as consisting of the detents 4d and H and; pressed outwardly from the web 33 to extend into holes provided in the wall of the section 28.

When. the housing part it aindthe section. 28 are positioned one against the other in their proper closed relation as indicated in Fig. l, the underside of the base ll will be in contact with the top sideof pin 34. On each side of base I? there is provided pin engaging fingers 4'2 and 43 respectively.: Eachof these fingers is shaped. to slope downwardly and upwardly to engage elastically under the pin 34 and terminate by an outer end upturned from the underside of the pin to leave a space between that end of the finger and the underside of the base ll to receive the pin 34 therethrough by slight downward retraction of the fingers. In other words, there is sufficient elasticity provided in these fingers :32 and 43 to keep them engaged with pin 34 and thereby provide a hinge connection around the pin 34 with those fingers. At the same time, this hinge connection may 'be separated by forcibly pulling one section of the housing apart from the other section, particularly when the two sections are in open position as indicated in Fig. 5.

Further means is provided to retain the two housing parts selectively in closed and open positions as illustrated accordingly in Figs. 1 and 5. The web 38 is centrally formed to have fore and aft spaced apart grooves 4 and 55, Fig. 5, into which may drop the lower end of the elastic tongue 46 which drops centrally downwardly. When the housing parts it and 28 are rocked to the closing positions, the lower end of the tongue Q5 will be in the rear groove 45 as shown in Fig' 1. Then when the section 28 is rocked forwardly relative to the rear part iii a sufficient distance. to permit removal of the bottle 24,.the lower endof tongue 4,6 will then be in the groove 44. Pulling the rear part on around from the section 28 will permit the tongue 45 to travel forwardly of the web 38 and thus facilitate the separation of the base I! and its fingers 42 and 43 from the pin 34.

By properly locating the pin 34 and fingers A2 and 33 to the relative positions as indicated in the drawings the lower ajacentends of the housing part Ill and the forward section 28 will tele-. seopein their open positions as indicated in'Fig. 5 without interference and will return to edgecon tact in the closed positions. The position of the pin 34, in this regard, is slightly back of the vertical central plane through the bottle. 24.

Thus it is to be seen that I have provided extremely simple construction for the purposes aboveindicatedand while I have described the structure in one particular form, many structural variations may be employed" without departing from the. spirit of the invention and I do not want to be limited to that primary form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the f ollowing claims.

I claim:

1. In a pitcher having a removable container, a rear housing part; a front housing part; a base member carried by said rear part, upon which member said container may rest; an abutment at the rear of said base member; an elastic member extending upwardly at the forward side of said base member spaced from said abutment a distance to compressibly receivev therebetween a lower portion of said container; said rear housing part being shaped. to have its upper end portion fit around an. upper rear side portion of saidcontainer; said elastic member being formed to contact the forward side of said container to urge its said rear upper portion side substantially against said rear housing upper end portion; a hinge connection between said two housing parts arranged to permit the front housing part to swing relatively from the rear part in fore and aft directions; the upper end of said front'hous ing part being shaped to fit around the front portion of said container and thereby, with the upper end of the rear housing part, complete-encirclement of the container to leave an uppeccontainer end exposed, said hinge connection comprising a pin carried by said front hous ng part, and a finger carried from the rear housing part to extend under and yielding against said pin, said base member being pulled toward the pin by said finger, whereby said housing parts may be separated by forcibly pulling them apart to disengage said finger from said pin.

2. In a pitcher having a removable container, a rear housing part; a front housing part; a base member carried by said rear part, upon which member said container may rest; an abutment at the rear of said base member; an elastic member extending upwardly at the forward side 01 said base member spaced from said abutment a distance to compressibly receive therebetween a lower portion of said container; said rear housing part being shaped to have its upper end portion fit around an upper rear side portion of said container; said elastic member being formed to contact the forward side of said container to urge its said rear upper portion side substantially against said rear housing upper end portion; a hinge connection between said two housing parts arranged to permit the front housing part to swing relatively from the rear part in fore and aft directions; the upper end of said front housing part being shaped to fit around the front portion of said container and thereby, with the upper end of the rear housing part, complete encirclement of the container to leave an upper container end exposed, said hinge connection comprising a pin carried by said front housing part, and a finger carried from the rear housing part to extend under and yieldingly against said pin, said base member being pulled toward the pin by said finger, whereby said housing parts may be separated by forcibly pulling them apart to disengage said finger from said pin, and stop means yieldingly limiting the rocking apart of said two housing parts.

3. In a pitcher having a removable container, a rear housing part; a front housing part; a base member carried by said rear part, upon which member said container may rest; an abutment at the rear of said base member; an elastic member extending upwardly at the forward side of said base member spaced from said abutment a distance to compressibly receive therebetween a lower portion of said container; said rear housing part being shaped to have its upper end portion fit around an upper rear side portion of said container; said elastic member being formed to contact the forward side of said container to urge its said rear upper portion side substantially against said rear housing upper end portion; a hinge connection between said two housing parts arranged to permit the front housing part to swing relatively from the rear part in fore and aft directions; the upper end of said front housing part being shaped to fit around the front por- 6 tion of said container and thereby, with the upper end of the rear housing part complete encirclemcnt of the container to leave an upper container end exposed, said hinge connection comprising a pin carried by said front housing part, and a finger carried from the rear housing part to extend under and yieldingly against said pin, said base member being pulled toward the pin by said finger, whereby said housing parts may be separated by forcibly pulling them apart to disengage said finger from said pin, and stop means yieldingly limiting the rocking apart of said two housing parts, said stop means comprising an elastic finger fixed by one end in relation to said rear housingpart and extending by a free end into said front housing part, and said front housing part being a pair of spaced apart grooves in the path of said free end whereby that end may spring from one groove to the other upon rocking of the housing parts.

4. In a pitcher having a removable container, a member forming a rear section of the wall of the pitcher; a container base provided on said section; a container abutment surface at the rear of said-base; an elastic tongue spaced above said base; said tongue and abutment being spaced to receive the lower end of the container com pressibly therebetween; said wall section having an upper end portion shaped and positioned to fit approximately across the rear side at least of the container when the container is rested on said base; and a front pitcher wall section separate from the said rear section shaped to complete an enclosure around the forward side of the container; and a detachable hinge connection below said base between said two wall sections, and means yieldingly retainin said wall sections selectively in open and closed positions.

5. For a pitcher having a removable container, a container bracket comprising a base; a tongue upturned from the forward edge of the base; a container abutment upturned from the rear of the base; a mounting tongue extending from said base; a down and forwardly turned hinge finger having an upper concave surface adjacent a free end spaced below said base; and a stop tongue extending downwardly and forwardly below said baseto an elevation below said finger free end.

JAMES C. PROCTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 351,208 Searles Oct. 19, 1886 704,972 Griffith July 15, 1902 2,176,012 Payson Oct. 10, 1939 

